We, my shop and I are located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I am a Texan living in exile from my beloved home state. Having lived in the great state of Texas all my life, I was a little skeptical about living any place else, but when the company I worked for wanted to move my wife and I to Oklahoma a few years ago, we agreed.

On the upside of said move, I was able to acquire a property which had on it's 1 ¼ acre a 30' x 50' shop. For the first time in my life, I would have a real shop, and My Loving Wife, would get to park her car in the garage for the first time in the 29 years of our marriage. My screaming demons would also be separated from the house.

I am on the far side of half a century, and as the son of a carpenter, have been exposed to and interested in woodworking for as long as I can remember. But have never really pushed myself much farther than cabinetry and finish carpentry. Many years have passed as I collected as many power tools as I could afford and find space for. After-all that is how woodworking is done, is it not? By a fickle turn of fate, after spending four years assembling my shop and building work stations for all my major power tools, I finally got around to building myself a real workbench (a short story will be added later on this particular bench). Little did I know the change this would bring about. Because of the size and weight of the top slab I was unable to use my 12" planer to get it flat and level.

This led to the revelation that the only (well maybe not the only) but most effective way to do the job was a handplane...so I went to the local Woodcraft Store and bought myself a brand new Stanley #4. A disappointment to say the least, as we did not work well together. In my quest to improve the performance of this most basic tool, I resorted to among other resources the internet. Which led to discovering "The OldTools Mailing List" (add link here) , and an epiphany. Handtools, woodworking in the old ways, like I did as a junior high and to a lesser extent high school age teen. After all I've still got my first saw. I've had it for at least 40 years. I still remember my first plane, given to me by my grandfather, a No. 4 Stanley. And I now realize it was a Type 17 of WWII vintage because it had the hard rubber depth adjustment nut. It was stolen from a pick-up tool box with a lot of tools more expensive but less valuable. I had forgotten how much I love really working with my hands and handtools. This is not to say that I no longer use powertools but am slowly moving away from my dependence on them. I will not on this
site hide my power tools or their use because almost all of my woodworking experience has been thru and with them. Also one of my worst experiences with a sharp tool.

For these reasons what you will see on this site is my efforts to acquire, rehabilitate and learn to use these tools of yesteryear. For the most part all these tools from the past are still around in varying states of disrepair and can be had and used with little outlay of cash, and some small amount of refurbishment. That, as they say is the easy part, then comes the fun part, developing the skills to use these tools effectively. To this end in particular, OldTools is an invaluable resource. OldTools is populated by what are without a doubt some of the most talented, supportive, knowledgeable and friendly woodworkers in the world.

 

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